Article-lifting device.



No. 704.661. Patented .IuIy IS, I902. F. G. NEUMANN.

. ARTICLE LIFTING DEVICE.

(Application filed Mar. 4. 1902.]

('NO Model.)

WTNESSES: 'INVENTOR 7/ W WWW BY M, 2 j; I O6 ATTORNEY Warren STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK Gr- NEUMANN, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY.

ARTICLE-LIFTING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,661, dated July 15, 1902.

Application filed March 4, 1902.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK G. NEUMANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Article-Lifting Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a device for reaching down from shelves or out of showwindows, &o., articles which may be displayed there. It is not only often veryinconvenient, but oftentimes practically impossible to reach articles on display in stores without disarranging others near them, so that a practical contrivance to be used for this purpose will be found of considerable value.

My invention will be found fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a front view of the contrivance. Fig. 2 is a top plan View thereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the contrivance, taken to the right of one of two parts hereinafter called clips and looking toward the left. Fig. 4 is another sectional view taken to the right of one of two pulleys used in the contrivance and looking toward the left. Fig. 5 is a plan View of one of said clips, and Fig. 6 shows a modified form of one of said clips.

ct in said drawings is a hollow pole or staff provided at one end with a handle I) and at the other end with a fork c. In the pole or staff is arranged a slide d, having a knob e, which projects through a slot f in said staff and also having secured to one end thereof a rod or wire g, projecting out of said staff at its upper end and formed with a hook h. To the ends of the fork o is secured an elongated box or casing t, formed in two parts j and 7t, the securing means between said box and the fork and between the parts of said box being screws Z. On the front of the box the edge of the part It thereof is cut away to form, with the part j, an elongated slot m.

n designates two elongated clips or fingers having plate-like base portions 0, which bear against the outer face of the casing or box t and also having guides 19, which project through said slots into the casing, fitting rather snugly therein, as shown in Fig. 3. In each end of the recess of the box is journaled a pulley (1. Over this pulley passes a chain Serial No. 96,687- (No model.)

or other flexible device 1", which extends through an opening 3 in the bottom of the box and is connected at one end to an eyelet ton the guide 1) of the corresponding clip and at the other end to the hook h of the rod g. Near each pulley the recess of the box is interrupted by a partition produced by coincident projections it, formed on each part of the box, a portion of this partition being cut away, as at o, to form an opening through which the chain may pass to the eyelet t. Between each partition and the guide of the clip is interposed a spiral spring to, which acts to press each clip toward the other. It

is preferable that the chain pass through this spring. The clip may have any desired form. For instance, it may be straight, as shown in Fig. 2, curved, as shown in Fig. 5, or have its engaging portion extending at right angles to the body portion thereof, as shown at w in Fig. 6. In each case, however, it is preferred that the engaging portion of its surface be provided with a rubber pad y, preferably secured therein by seating it in a dovetailed groove .2, formed in the clip.

For the sake of convenience in using the implement a recess or notch 1 may be arranged at the end of the slot f, which is adjacent the handle, in which notch the knob e may engage, so that when the parts have been set with the clips retracted (being thus held back by the knob being engaged in said notch) the operator after reaching out with the contrivance and placing it so that the clips receive between them the article to be lifted or moved has only to press the knob sidewise, so that it can be released, and thus permit the clips to secure said article.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination of a suitable support having a handle at one end thereof, a casing arranged near the other end of said support, clips arranged to slide in said casing toward each other, springs pressing said clips toward each other, and means for moving said clips against the tension of their springs, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a hollow staff or pole, ahandle arranged at one end of said pole, a pair of clips movable toward each other,

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK G. NEUMANN.

Witnesses:

JOHN W. STEWARD, JAMES B. NEWTON. 

